TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin House charge at Roxxy Beach

Last nite went to Roxxy Beach. When bill came a line item called house charge 5% caught my attention. I asked several employees about it and the mumbled something about the government. Do any other places charge this? Its was a first for me .

I suspect it is turnover tax. That is not supposed to be charged to the consumer, but some restaurants do it.

How was Roxxy otherwise? Are they still doing the 3 course prix fixe meal?

I would be remiss to not review my impression of the place. The food was excellent. Service was adequate and ambiance excellent.

I did not see a reference to a prim fixe meal but I was not looking that hard nor did I ask.

OK, thanks for the replies.

It is illegal to charge the customer for turnover tax. Shame on them.

But they are not the only ones to do it. Jimbos used to do it, for sure.

Did they add on an additional 15% service charge as well? What Carol and Elaine said on the turnover tax/house charge, it is NOT supposed to be done and if they added on 15%, they got you for 20%. If they did not add on 15% service charge, I would have factored in the 5% already charge on any gratuity and/or questioned it and I would likely not return.

I do not see the $29 fixed price menu offered any longer on their facebook page. I sent a message asking about it. It does look like they have some weekend specials listed in the $21-$31 range.

Yes, some do.

Below is the response I just received from Roxxy Beach.

House charge is basically the same as a cover charge. But you should be made aware of it at the time of sitting down. We were at a bar in NYC, wanted to go further back and were told we had to pay a 10.00 cover per person. Decided to stay up front as we were just staying for another drink. House charge is common, but they should tell you.

Wow. Now THAT takes some gonads to charge a cover charge in SXM!! And then when questioned, the server claims it's a tax.. Wow..

That policy is enough to not make me want to patronize the place. I wrote Jimbo's off years ago because of his TOT add on too.

I have no issues with charging a house/cover charge. But I should be told at the door that before I buy a drink or meal.

Who knows who is telling the truth. I wonder if it is charged every day or just days with entertainment since they indicated entertainment was "3 or 4 days/nights a week".

I would assume it's an every day charge to pay towards those days with entertainment if that is really what that charge is for. Kind of suspect when the TOT is also 5%.

Yep.
If in fact it is to cover entertainment, I am with kim, it needs to be known upfront in some fashion.

Just ridiculous, all the way around. A cover charge is never based on a percentage, is it?? Ridiculous. Can you imagine any other restaurant on SXM charging a cover charge for entertainment?? Ridiculous. I guess we won't be going to Roxxy on our next trip.

Correct. To base it as a percentage of tap is so wrong in many ways. A high bill pays more for entertainment that someone that bought one drink and stays all night. Crazy. If anything should be reversed. It's just a recoup of the TOT.

I was surprised with the answer.

Kim--It needs to be stated up front, for sure, but based on a percentage??? Bull...

Yeah I didn’t zone in on the % part. That’s complete BS!!! Just a money grab! Should be flat rate.

They did not add a tip. That was pointed out on the bill

There was no entertainment other than recorded music. It was 7pm

I sent Roxxy Beach a link to this discussion in case they wanted to see what people were saying or perhaps address it themselves. So far, they have not responded back to me.

Maybe it's just me but why would I pay a cover charge when there is no live music when I am there? I would bet it's a made up name for the turnover tax since they probably can't itemize that on a bill

The original poster was told by the server that it was something to do with government, which I assume means a tax. So, either the server was lying or the management is. Either way, this is a policy which needs to stop. Let us know, JD, if they respond back to you.

Will do. If I do not get a response by Monday, I may message Roxxy Beach again.

Looking forward to their response.

I hope they do respond but since they read the message over 12 hours ago and have not responded, my hopes are not high. They responded to the initial message within 1 hour.

They might not check it often and you lucked out on your first message.

I said they read it over 12 hours ago. You can tell on facebook when a message is sent and then read.

I suppose some would view this as "creative" marketing. I see it the same as the mysterious add on charges some rental car companies apply or the 15% added to a restaurant bill that's "not a tip".
Unethical tactics only cease when the consumer stops using the business that chooses to build profit that way. Just my opinion.

Correct. I sent them another facebook message this morning, indicating people were questioning the 5% and if it only applied on days/nights with entertainment. I will update with any response.

Roxxy Beach responded within 1 hour (20 minutes actually) to my first message. They viewed my second message within minutes of me sending it and as of now (24 hours later) they have not responded. I find that somewhat telling but still hope for some kind of clarification.

And here is their response, make up your own mind. Initially I was told entertainment was "3 to 4 days a week", the response today indicated otherwise. I questioned multiple times about the discrepancy of entertainment being daily or just 3 to 4 days a week and never really got clarification. While the exchange was cordial, I sensed they did not appreciate being questioned. I appreciate them responding.


Hello. Our manager answered to you about the 5% charge. Are you expecting us to answer individually on the chat ?

We have entertainment all the time, we charge all the time the 5% . Hope this clarifies.
Thank you.

My response: Thank you but in the first response it was indicated entertainment was "3 or 4 days/nights a week".

Exactly true.We have an entertainment budget who is cover by this 5 procent.
Some people are payed monthly other only in weekend

We always advertise our entertainment schedule. And like I said before, the days of entertainment are NOT contacted with the days of 5% charge. We charge every day and we have every day happy customers not bother about this topic.

Sorry, Roxxy. Live entertainment is a cost of doing business. I wonder, how many other restaurants on SXM are charging a 5% FEE on your check for live entertainment, which you pay, regardless of whether you get live entertainment or not?? I would say that the answer is ZERO. That is because it makes no sense and will only serve to tick off your best customers, the ones who spend the most money. It is like a cover charge that goes up, the more money you spend. How backwards is THAT? People have not questioned this so far, because they frankly probably have not paid attention. Either that, or this is a new charge. Either way, I personally will not EVER go to your establishment so long as this policy is in place. Not that a lot of people care what I personally think, but this is a matter of principle for me. And whenever someone asks a general question about your place, this will be brought up by someone, I guarantee. The internet is a great place. It can make you and it can break you. There are too many great restaurants on SXM, many of which have live entertainment for which you do not have to pay any fee, for you to do this.

We always advertise our entertainment schedule. And like I said before, the days of entertainment are NOT contacted with the days of 5% charge. We charge every day and we have every day happy customers not bother about this topic.

SMH, I have read this line about 20 times and i am still not sure what they are trying to say? are they defending or deflecting? I think something might be getting lost in translation.

" the days of entertainment are NOT contacted with the days of 5% charge" ....maybe = "the days we don't have entertainment, we don't charge the 5%" ? --- but they do!..... Yeah, Nope, still doesn't make sense to me.

Connected not contacted

Tim--I think the person's first language may be French and there lies part of the problem.

I never could get a clear answer but it sounds like there may or may not be entertainment every day/night and regardless, there is a 5% charge added to every bill, every day that supposedly goes towards paying the entertainment one may or may not get to experience. Make any sense?

I cut and pasted their exact words so any mistakes are on the person from Roxxy who responded to me.